A federal judge in Texas issued a ruling requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to eliminate all references to community integration from a significant disability regulation. The decision represents a substantial shift in federal policy regarding disability rights protections that had been prioritized by the government for decades.
The ruling came in the case Texas vs. Kennedy, which was originally filed in 2024 when 17 states challenged updates made by the Biden administration to Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. The Justice Department indicated in June that it would no longer enforce laws prioritizing community-based services and living arrangements for individuals with disabilities over institutional care in nursing homes and facilities. The department subsequently joined the lawsuit, following through on that announcement.
The lawsuit initially focused on a different issue when the states first filed their challenge. Texas and 16 other states originally sued over the Biden administration’s decision to add gender dysphoria as a protected disability category in their 2024 update to Section 504. Advocates for disability rights had expressed concerns publicly that the case would eventually lead to broader rollbacks of disability protections beyond the original dispute. The judge’s decision to remove community integration language from the rule fulfilled those concerns.
The ruling applies specifically to Section 504, which prohibits disability-based discrimination by recipients of federal funding. However, the decision does not affect community protection provisions established under other federal disability laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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